Ukrainian chancellor urges Latin America to leave neutrality over war

Ukraine on Wednesday (15) called on Latin American countries to abandon “neutrality” and stand on the “right side” of history in the face of Russian aggression.

“We ask all the leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean region to put aside this so-called neutrality and get on the right side of history,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at a press conference with Ibero-American journalists in Kiyv.

“I am confident that Latin American countries are interested that Russia is defeated because it is in the interest of global stability that international legality is restored,” Kuleba said at a press conference organized by the Inter-American Press Society (IAPA).

Although the head of the Ukrainian diplomacy avoided directly criticizing some leaders in the region, such as those of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina, who are reluctant to send arms or ammunition to Ukraine, and assured that each country has the right to choose its foreign policy, Kuleba insisted on denouncing this “neutrality.”

“We see different degrees of neutrality; in some cases, they adopt the position of condemning aggression, for example, in UN resolutions, but say they will not send weapons or ammunition, only help with humanitarian aid; others do nothing,” he said.

“When a country cannot even openly condemn blatant aggression against a sovereign state, it has chosen the wrong side, it thinks that borders can be changed by force, and there are also those who choose to support Russia, although they are very few,” he added.

Kuleba emphasized that before the war, Ukraine knew who its allies in the region traditionally were, but that with the war, “relations between Ukraine and Latin America lost focus, the war changed that perception.”

Regarding Argentina’s position and the attitude of its president, Alberto Fernandez, regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kuleba assured that “each country owns the choice of its foreign policy, but some points of reference make the position very clear.”

He listed that “one is to vote for the UN resolutions adopted in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Another is if a country provides concrete aid to Ukraine.

The third is to shake hands with President Vladimir Putin or Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov because they are stained with the blood of Ukrainians and their own citizens.”

“Some indicators make it easier to identify where the country is,” he said, “but we should not be emotional.”

He also did not want to criticize Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador openly but said that “those who say that sending weapons to Ukraine will only prolong the war are saying that they do not want Ukraine to fight; they want it to lose its sovereignty and independence.”

However, he said he had a “very good meeting with the foreign minister in the fall, and we will continue to work with the Mexican government.”

About Colombia and its president, Gustavo Petro, the Ukrainian minister, said that “when I say that I don’t send weapons because I want peace, that doesn’t mean that those who send them don’t want peace. Ukraine is the first to want peace, it’s not fun to be at war, [but] we don’t want to be destroyed as a nation,” and “we need weapons.”

Regarding countries like El Salvador, Dmytro Kuleba pointed out that “if a country does not condemn aggression and remains silent, it paves the way for other aggressors to violate international law, but I don’t believe that El Salvador is a country that wants to live in a world without laws.”

Instead, he praised Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei as the first leader from the region to visit Kiyv since the Russian aggression began.

Kuleba said that Kiev wants to deepen and expand its political, economic, and humanitarian relations with the Latin American and Caribbean region by 2023.

“We are finalizing our first foreign policy strategy with Latin America, a comprehensive document that covers all areas and sets goals for the coming years. We also have an ambitious plan to expand our diplomatic presence,” he stressed.

With information from EFE/Gazeta do Povo